News reports on Tuesday confirmed that Adhikari, a TMC MLA from Nandigram, would join BJP on December 19 in presence of Amit Shah.
Suvendu Adhikari (L) and Mamata Banerjee.
Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday indirectly hit out at rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is likely to join BJP later this week.
Addressing a public rally at Ras Mela Moydan in Coochbehar, during her three-day tour of North Bengal, Banerjee said, “One or two come during the high tide and go out during the low. It doesn’t matter.”
“Those who were there in Trinamool from the first day, they are still here. They’ll continue to fight. Remember, they’ll not change their character. One change his clothes but not ideology,” she added.
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For TMC, looking to hold on to power in the 2021 Assembly Elections, the power tussle and internal conflict among its leaders and workers have been the biggest concerns for some time now.
From its agitation leader Suvendu Adhikari to MLAs like Shilbhadra Dutta, Jotu Lahiri, Rajiv Banerjee, Jitendra Tiwari, West Bengal’s governning party seems to be a divided political entity like none other at the moment.
A report by CNN News18 on Tuesday confirmed that Adhikari, a TMC MLA from Nandigram, would join BJP on December 19 in presence of Amit Shah.
The 50-year-old heavyweight politician is likely to resign as a legislator and TMC party member in the upcoming days.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee continued to attack BJP on her usual front of calling it an “outsider party”. She encouraged the ground-level workers of her party to “stand against BJP’s violence”.
“They are all goons from outside. They are dacoits from Chambal. They are scaring police and TMC workers to establish their dominance,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said.
Reflecting TMC’s heavy defeat in North Bengal in the 2019 Lol Sabha polls, she said, “You all are witnessing what violence atrocities they are committing after winning the 2019 elections. The ones who were thrown out of our party were bought by BJP.”
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